Before you attend that Super Bowl party, don’t miss this important cele-

bration at church! At the 10am Holy Eucharist on February 4th we will

celebrate the official merger of the Episcopal Church of Ascension and All

Saints Episcopal Church. The Rt. Rev. George Wayne Smith, the bishop

of the Diocese of Missouri, will be joining us for this historic event.

A special dedication will be made as both parishes are merging to form the new

Episcopal Church of All Saints and Ascension. Come and be filled with the spirit of

Christ as we celebrate with special prayers and music. There will be a light repast

following the service so that you can save room for that tailgate buffet. SAVE THE

DATE and don’t miss this once in a lifetime celebration!

Hi! My name is Betty

Gean Brown. As a child I

attended Christ Holiness

Temple COGIC with my

parents, George and Willa

Mae Reeder, where I was

baptized. In 1976, I re-

ceived an invitation from a

neighbor to worship and

fellowship at Ascension

Church. I barely knew

this neighbor, but the invi-

tation stated: “I need to

bring a guest real bad,

please come”.

I and my three children

(Charles, Christopher,

and Carmen) hadn’t at-

tended church in quite

some time. But I thought,

why not? So, I accepted.

A year later my children

were baptized, and I was

confirmed. Wow! We had

become Episcopalians!

Yet I had never heard of

this denomination before.

Nevertheless, I have been

at Ascension ever since.

And that neighbor later

became

my very

best

friend!

Thank

you, Em-

ma Jean

Harrell for the invitation!

May you continue to rest

in peace and rise in glory.

I graduated from Vashon

High School in 1962. In

1967, my career in the

health field began in the

St. Louis University

School of Medicine de-

partment of surgery as a

surgical research techni-

cian. I later transferred to

surgery administration as

a medical secretary until I

retired in 2001.

At Ascension, I have been blessed to serve as a worship leader, lay eu-charistic minister, senior/bishop’s warden, vestry clerk, treasurer, food pan-try assistant, choir, Sun-day school teacher, vaca-tion bible school assis-tant, Episcopal Neighbor-hood School assistant, diocesan convention dele-gate, and a delegate to the Black Episcopalians Conference. My greatest honor has been recom-mitting my life to Christ Jesus, and being a child of God. To God be the glory!

Message from the Priest-In-Charge

2

Parish History 2

Calendar of Events 3

Event Reports 3

Announcements 4

Caring Reminders 4

Inside This Issue

Super Bowl Sunday is UNIFICATION SUNDAY

February

4

Guess

Who? This Sunday school photo was taken in the mid 1950s. Answer page 4.

The MESSENGER Broadcast Newsletter

1st Quarter Edition January 2018

IMPORTANT! Parishion-

ers don't let this be the

last newsletter you re-

ceive. You will not remain

on the distribution list for

mail, email, and phone

messages if you have not

completed a Member

Profile Form. Contact

the office to get a form.

HOMESICK?

Our doors are always

open. Welcome home!

Episcopal Church of All Saints and Ascension 4520 Lucas and Hunt Rd. Northwoods, Mo. 63121

314-367-2314 314-361-0105

allsaintsadminasst@sbcglobal.net The Rev. Michael G Dunnington

Priest-in-Charge Karen Mosley-Admn. Assistant Andrea Hunter-Music Director

Administrative Asst. Office Hours: 9am-3pm Monday thru Wednesday

Priest In Charge Office Hours: 8:30am-4pm Monday thru Wednesday

I’m really excited to be writing my first message for our newly-updated, merged NEWSLET-TER! And I’m very grateful to Sanford Hamilton for agree-ing to be our Com-

munication Coordinator (whose du-ties include responsibility for this newsletter). I’m also very much looking forward to Sunday, Febru-ary 4, when Bishop Wayne Smith will be with us for his pastoral visita-tion, and for a celebration of our newly merged status. The folks formerly from Ascension may not have heard me preach

about MISSION. But the whole point of our merger, the whole point of our being one church here in North-woods is NOT so we can simply sur-vive. But it is so we can share in God’s MISSION to this world. It’s not OUR mission, it’s God’s mission. And we’re invited to share in that mission. We’re to carry God’s hope-ful message into the world. And we are to reassure all people that Jesus Christ has already dealt with all the bad things in the world, and that Je-sus has OVERCOME them. And as the Apostle Paul puts it, we are the brothers and sisters of Jesus, and we share in his victory over the bad things, even death itself. And so, brothers and sisters of the

new Episcopal Church of All Saints and Ascension, I challenge you to share in God’s mission. Whether it be in some small way, or a larger way, our job is to do what we can with the gifts we’ve been given. Whether it be participating in our Community Children’s Choir, volun-teering to work in the Food Pantry, helping put on our Community Pic-nic and Trunk-a-Treat activities, or helping to put together new activities for the Men’s Club or ECW or a Guild. The number of ways our newer, stronger parish can bring the Risen Christ to our community is only limited by our imaginations and our energy as a parish family. There’s way too much work to do, so LET’S GET BUSY!!

The city grew and expanded, and

our church relocated several times

to accommodate our growing con-

gregation. For many years we held

services in what we lovingly refer to

as “the old church” located at Garri-

son and Locust. In 1957, to be clos-

er to the westward movement of our

members, we move to Kingshigh-

way Boulevard and Terry Avenue.

And in 2016, we

moved to our

current location

in Northwoods

as we prepared

for the transition

and merger with

the Episcopal

Church of As-

cension.

A Message from the Priest In Charge

In l953 Ascension merged with Holy

Apostle Episcopal Church. The

church soon began to face budget-

ing challenges and changing de-

mographics. Many members left for

other churches. The church building

was torn down. By the 70’s, a mostly

African American congregation was

established. And a small chapel was

erected inside the parish hall by the

80’s.

The Ascension building was finally condemned in l999. Ascension members held services at West Presbyterian. When St. Andrew’s Church in Northwoods disbanded, an offer was accepted to move to

the current location. The first service was conduct-ed on Febru-ary 8, 2004.

Ascension

In l887, the parish began to grow

from a small living room meeting on

Cabanne Avenue near Goodfellow

where they adopted the name, As-

cension. The members raised mon-

ey, purchased a lot, and constructed

a modest frame church at Cates and

Goodfellow. The building was con-

secrated on January 6,1889.

Years later, a larger brick structure

was constructed, followed by the

erection of a spacious parish hall. By

l927, the parish boasted 500 mem-

bers.

Parish History

All Saints

All Saints parish is the oldest Afri-

can American Episcopal church

west of the Mississippi river. It be-

gan as a Sunday school in 1874.

Shortly thereafter we became a

mission. But finally in 1883, we

officially welcomed our first or-

dained priest as Rector and be-

came All Saints Episcopal Church.

Page 2

Reverend Michael Dunnington

The Old Church

Current Location

LIFE GOES ON…. whether

you choose to move on and

take a chance in the un-

known. Or stay behind,

locked in the past, thinking

of what could have been. . Stephanie Smith

Calendar of Events

RECURRING SCHEDULE:

Holy Eucharist Service 10:00 am Every Sunday Sunday Morning Prayer 8:00 am On January 7 & 21; February 18; March 4 & 18; April 15 Daily Morning Prayer 8:30 am Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Food Pantry 10:00 am until 1:00 pm Every First and Third Wednesday of Each Month ECW Meeting Following Eucharist Every 4th Sunday unless otherwise notified

Gospel Jubilee On Sunday October 18th, we held our 18th Annual Gospel Jubilee with the theme “This Little Light Of Mine”. This event is a hallmark of our congregation, and a wonderful gift to the community. We extend our heartfelt appreciation to Georgia Harrell for her tireless efforts with or-ganizing the Jubilee once again. And many thanks for all who helped make it an enjoyable event, including our choir.

Page 3

January 21 11:30 am ECW Monthly Meeting (re-scheduled)

January 28 11:30 am Annual Parish Meeting-Episcopal Church of All Saints and Ascension

February 4 10:00 am Bishop Wayne Smith's Visitation-Liturgy Commemorating Merger (No Incense)

February 14 12 & 6 pm Ash Wednesday Services

February 16 11:00 am Men's Club FISH FRY (eat-in or carry-out until 7:00 pm)

April 1 10:00 am Easter Sunday Service (No Incense; No Morning Prayer Service)

2017 Homecoming & ECW Fundraiser

On Sunday November 5, we celebrated Homecom-ing with Holy Eucharist. The Rev. David Fly officiat-ed, and Leizel Thomas gave an inspiring keynote

address. Margarett Williams served as acolyte, and Steve Roberts served as worship Leader. The service was fol-lowed by a chicken dinner fundraiser hosted by ECW. This was the first joint home-coming event held by the com-bined parishes. Leizel Thomas

Spotlight On Youth

All Saints and Ascension Choir

Let’s Celebrate the Blessed

The parish family would like to salute Alexia Dukes! Alexia has been elected president of the Youth Council of the St. Louis County branch of the NAACP. Congratulations Mad-am President!

Thanks to Ckarla Banks and her team for making Trunk-Or-Treat a success on Halloween night. This is the first time this event was pro-vided at the Northwoods location. Due to cool weather, the event was moved indoors to the Jean Harrell Fellowship Hall. We served over 200 neighborhood guests until about 7 pm. According to parish-ioner Hershel Myers, we are get-ting very favorable neighborhood feedback about our outreach programs. They view the increased number of parked cars on our lot, community picnic efforts, food pantry, and elevated activity at the church as being a sign of hope and improvement in the immediate vicinity.

2017 Trunk or Treat

Cleo Anderson and Suzanne Harris have been blessed

with being admitted to the “Fabulous 95 Club” in 2017.

Happy 95th Birthday!

Valerie Patton was appointed to serve a 5-year term on

the Howard University School of Business Board of Visi-

tors (governing body for the school of busi-

ness). She also received the 2017 Frankie

Muse Freeman Spirit Award in the individual

category by the Black Rep. PLUS, she was

elected to the serve as a trustee on the board

at Fontbonne University. Congratulations!

Men’s Club

2017 Man of the Year

Wilbur Lowman-Ascension Michael Griffin-All Saints

Our Food Pantry, which services cli-ents from 10am until 1pm on the first and third Wednesdays of each month, needs our help. This is one of several outreach ministries of our combined congregations which needs your finan-cial assistance to enable it to perform this ministry. If you are interested in volunteering, please speak with Prince Thomas or Louise Trudo (Food Pantry Chairperson). When contributing, please designate that your contribution is for the food pantry

Need a ride to

church on

Sundays?

We have a van and driver, Wilbur Lowman, who will pick up mem-bers and guests who need a ride to church on Sunday. To arrange a ride, please call Karen in the church office, or phone Wilbur at 314-383-0850.

Answer to “Guess Who?” on page 1. Adrienne (Lemmon) Dillon

We are forming a Community Children’s Choir and are asking for your help. We need partici-pation from boys and girls, ages 8 to 14. Great voices are not needed, only enthusiasm. We will begin practice on Sun-days after service after all meet-ings have ended. Refresh-ments will be served. See Adrienne Dillon or contact the parish office to sign up.

Caring Reminders

Booker Baker Erma Brasfield Juanita Carroll Cleo Anderson Harriett Barrett Thelma Stephens Louise McElroy Callie Hartsfield Jack Ingrum Jay Lucas Johnson Virgil Lucas Mary Stafford Crystal Hubbard-Lopolito Georgia Rusan Suzanne Harris Alice Okrafosmart (Note: Listing as of 12/17/17 Check the weekly bulletin for updates)

The All Saints and Ascension choir is looking to in-crease its membership. Additional voices in the en-semble will allow us the flexibility to plan more musical performances and increase our involvement as we move into the future together. It is not necessary to have a great voice. Joy and enthusiasm are the only requirements! If you love to sing, we would love to

have you regardless of your musical background. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact our music director Andrea Hunter at 702-201-3793 or at aleachhuntermusic@gmail.com

Many thanks to Allen Dukes for

painting stripes on our parking

lots so that we can efficiently fit

as many cars into our parking areas as possible.

Everyone is reminded DO NOT CROSS THE LINE!

The annual Milton J Patton parish picnic, sponsored by the Men’s Club, was an uplifting success at the new Vinita Park location in Au-gust. Holy Eucharist! Great spirit! Family bonding! Plentiful food! There was good attendance from current, former, and returning members. The joyful sounds of our children flying kites, creating giant bubbles, and frolicking on the playground was very gratifying. Thanks to Allen Dukes and Charles Hughes for the coordination of many people to pull this together. Kudos to Mr. Briggs also!

NEW WEBSITE

coming in 2018!

Our architect, Jim Riddle, has offered two interesting proposals to make our building accessible to per-sons with disabilities, to pro-vide additional restrooms, and to expand our kitchen/dining space. If you have any input to share in this

process, please contact one of the following com-mittee members: Adrienne Dillon, Michael Griffin, Nancy Hamilton, Stanley Johnson, Prince Thom-as, Michael Watson, Gaylard Williams, and Fr. Dunnington. Their next meeting is scheduled for January 7th to discuss related budgeting issues.

The peace

of the

Lord be

always

with you.

Our leadership has engaged Dr. Daniel Pearson as a facilitator in our

ongoing merger process. He will be helping us with the merging of cul-

tures, roles, and expectations with having one mission, one image, and

one identity. Parishioners will be kept informed with the process.

Page 4

Announcements